Over recent years, legislators and other community leaders have taken significant steps to encourage and even legislate that certain materials must be recycled. For example, many communities throughout the United States now have active recycling programs for newspapers, glass, metal, and, in some cases, plastics. In some states, beverage manufacturers are required to collect cash deposits from consumers and to later return those deposits if the consumer returns the empty container for recycling.
The desire to create less solid waste has also impacted decisions of certain industries. For example, the use of certain disposable containers by fast-food companies has been banned in certain communities in light of the ultimate waste disposal problems caused by those containers. Thus, where a manufacturer or retailer might otherwise desire to use a particular product which has greater consumer appeal or is less expensive, that item may be rejected by society if it ultimately creates a waste disposal problem.
One product, which has met with some resistance from community and environmentalists, is the plastic grocery bag. In light of that resistance, some suppliers have established programs whereby those bags are collected for later recycling. While programs involving the recycling of these plastic bags shows promise, one significant impediment is the presence of conventional paper cash register receipts which are left in the returned bags. These paper cash register receipts can cause problems during the recycling of the plastic sacks. If the paper cash register receipt is not removed, the recycled material causes gel problems leading to significant extrusion problems during film production. Alternatively, if the paper cash register receipts must be removed, manual removal as well as alternate separation processes tend to be very costly.
In light of the desire to use plastic grocery bags and the overall desire to provide a readily recyclable product, it would be desirable to overcome the recycling problems inherent in using plastic bags with paper cash register receipts.